Most Kleciński, Wrocław

Most Kleciński spans the Ślęza at a crossing used since the Middle Ages on the route toward Świdnica. The present bridge replaced an earlier structure in 1967, after plans to carry trams across it were abandoned. It was also the only Ślęza bridge to survive the 1945 siege of Festung Breslau.

Most Kleciński is the bridge carrying the route across the Ślęza here, built where an earlier crossing once stood. A bridge already served this spot in the Middle Ages, when it formed the principal route toward Świdnica. In 1906, a wooden structure gave way to a single-span steel bridge, its truss girders shaped with parabolic upper members.

The city’s road network changed in 1936, when Karkonoska Street and Partynicki Bridge became the main Świdnica road, leaving this crossing without its former through-route role. During the 1945 siege of Festung Breslau, it was the only bridge over the Ślęza to survive the fighting. Klecina joined Wrocław in 1951, and plans then called for a tramline to reach the neighbourhood.

Engineers decided that converting the old bridge for both road traffic and trams would cost too much, so it was demolished. By 1967, this replacement had been completed using an innovative prefabricated, cable-reinforced concrete span and a deck cast in place. The tram tracks never crossed it: their terminus remains before the bridge.